Awards:
Saturn Award for best genre TV supporting actor, for
Now and Again
, 1999; best supporting actor, Washington DC Area Film Critics
Association, for
Far From Heaven
, 2002; Black Reel Award, theatrical—best supporting actor, for
Far From Heaven
, 2003; Golden Satellite Award, best performance by an actor in a
supporting role, drama, for
Far From Heaven
, 2003.

Sidelights

For more than 20 years, Dennis Haysbert has played a steady stream of
solid, trustworthy television characters. Despite the perpetual face time
on network TV, Haysbert remained on the fringes, seeking to be recognized
as one of Hollywood's A-list African-American actors. In the early
2000s, Haysbert finally achieved the celebrity status he craved after
earning the role of Sen. David Palmer on FOX's
24
. His character became the U.S. president, making Haysbert the first
African-American president on network television. Haysbert's
pleasant, yet authoritative fictional president gained him legions of
fans. No longer does he walk the streets unnoticed—people call out
"President Palmer" and ask him to run for office. Speaking
to the
Observer
's Akin Ojumu, Haysbert commented on his long path to success.
"I always thought things would end up
pretty much the way they are … but I thought it would happen a
whole lot earlier. I dreamt well, and those dreams are starting to come to
fruition."

Haysbert was born on June 2, 1954, in San Mateo, California. His parents,
raised in Louisiana, had recently relocated from the South.
Haysbert's Catholic father, Charles, worked as a sheriff's
deputy and airline security guard. His Baptist mother, Gladys, was a
homemaker who stayed busy with her nine children and cleaned homes to earn
money. Haysbert was raised Baptist with Catholic customs, such as fish on
Fridays. He was the second to last child born into the family and was ill
due to a severe hole in his heart that did not heal until elementary
school. Because of the life-threatening condition, Haysbert's
parents did not let him play sports, so he amused himself through
imaginative playacting. "When he would play cowboys and Indians,
you saw the actor in him," one of Haysbert's brothers told
People
. "He was dramatic."

By high school, the 6-foot-4-inch Haysbert excelled at sports and was
offered several scholarships, though he turned them down in hopes of
becoming an actor. As a young adult, though, Haysbert dropped out of two
colleges and failed to get started with his acting career. In 1974,
Haysbert got motivated after his oldest brother was diagnosed with bone
cancer and, just before dying, told Haysbert to go to Hollywood to pursue
his dream before it was too late. Haysbert took his advice and moved to
Los Angeles, enrolling at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He
graduated around 1977.

Within a few years, Haysbert was earning steady roles on television with
guest appearances on such 1980's staples as
The Incredible Hulk, Quincy M.E., The A-Team, Knots Landing
and
Growing Pains
. Movies followed, including the 1989 slapstick comedy
Major League
, which focused on a group of misfit ballplayers. Starring alongside
Charlie Sheen and Corbin Bernsen, Haysbert played a voodoo-practicing
outfielder. He also played Michelle Pfeiffer's love interest in
1992's
Love Field
, a somewhat successful film set in the 1960s. Supporting roles in more
high-profile films followed. Haysbert appeared in the 1995 chick flick
Waiting to Exhale
, which focused on a group of African-American women and the men in their
lives. In this film, Haysbert played Whitney Houston's married love
interest. That same year, he appeared in
Heat
, playing an ex-con alongside Robert De Niro.

Haysbert gained some critical acclaim for the 2002 drama
Far From Heaven
, which portrayed the less-than-idyllic life of an upstanding white family
in 1950s suburban America. Haysbert played a black gardener who developed
a scandalous relationship with the white woman—and mother—he
worked for. Julianne Moore co-starred. The movie, which revealed the
hypocrisy of the era, earned a Golden Globe nomination for best screenplay
but received only moderate attention. Haysbert was glad he chose the role,
even though he knew the movie would never be a blockbuster. Haysbert
believes movies should be about more than just entertainment. "I
don't think movies are just about a fun night out," he told
the
Star Tribune
's Jeff Strickler. "I think they also can provide an
educational night out or a reflective night out. Movies can generate
emotions and present ideas. That's what movies are all about to me.
I go to a movie to come out thinking or feeling something that I
wasn't when I went in."

Haysbert's big break came when he landed the role of Sen. David
Palmer on the FOX series
24
, which debuted in 2001. An attention-grabbing action thriller,
24
is a cop show that deals with a counter-terrorism unit led by agent Jack
Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland. The show has one twist—each
season captures just one day in the lives of the characters, with each
one-hour episode shot in real time and telling just 60 minutes of the day.
By season two, Haysbert's character had been elected president,
though he was later assassinated in season five.

A
USA Today
poll found Haysbert's Palmer to be the first pick for fantasy
president, beating out Martin Sheen's popular
West Wing
president and even the real president, George W. Bush. Haysbert said he
modeled Palmer after Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and Colin Powell.
Speaking to the
Tampa Tribune
's Walt Belcher, Haysbert said the role on
24
was one of his best. "It was a great role for me personally and a
great role for the people in this country to see—a great role for
young black kids to see and for white kids. Palmer never put too much onus
on his color. He put more on his character."

Haysbert was sad to see his character written off the show, though he
continued to make guest appearances on
24
in other roles. In 2006, Haysbert began another television leadership
role by playing Army Special Forces Commander Jonas Blane on the CBS-TV
action-adventure
The Unit
. The show covers the clandestine operations of a military squad. The
squad is so elite it answers only to the president.

As Haysbert's career took off in the early 2000s, other gigs
followed. In 2004, he was tapped to be the spokesperson for Allstate
Insurance after the
company's research concluded Haysbert was one of the most trusted
people on television. He returned to the big screen in 2006, playing
Nelson Mandela in
Goodbye Bafana
, a movie about jailer James Gregory, the man who befriended Mandela
during his imprisonment.

For those who know Haysbert, his success is no surprise. Moore, his
co-star in
Far From Heaven
, explained his allure to
People
this way, "He cuts a very romantic image. His whole demeanor is
gentle, and that's incredibly appealing."

Sources

Newsday
, March 7, 2006, p. B21.

Observer
(London, England), February 9, 2003, p. 14.

People
, March 31, 2003, pp. 77-78.

Star Tribune
(Minneapolis, MN), November 17, 2002, p. F6.

Tampa Tribune
, March 7, 2006, Section: Baylife, p. 1.

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